Finance
Haynes Boone on the future of fund finance
This article is sponsored by Haynes Boone
As an asset class, private capital has experienced exponential growth in the past few decades, more than doubling its assets under management from less than $10 trillion globally in 2012 to more than $24 trillion in 2022. The fund finance industry has grown alongside it, starting from a nascent product in the late 1980s to an almost universal part in every fund’s capital structure today.
Fund sponsors now routinely include ‘bankable provisions’ for subscription line facility lenders in fund documents as anticipation for the use of this product by each of their funds, and are increasingly adding flexibility to expressly pledge their assets for use in net asset value (NAV) facilities.
Latest estimates put the global fund finance industry at more than $1 trillion. Many leading lenders in the space are operating at their maximum internal capital allocation. Nevertheless, they want to continue to maintain and expand their relationships with key sponsors. To that end, these institutions are turning to structured finance tools to reduce their capital reserve requirements, including credit facility ratings, conduit lending structures, securitizations, silent participations and capital relief trades.
Several leading rating agencies have expanded the scope of finance products they rate to include subscription line facilities, collateralized fund obligations and NAV financings. Once a predominantly European concept, ratings have been gaining ground in North America, with public and private ratings being requested by both borrowers and lenders. This trend is an attempt to attract different lenders, allow for higher holds from syndicate members due to enhanced capital treatment and offer more competitive pricing and terms.
Securitizations, capital relief trades and other capital market solutions are being explored by banks to help alleviate capital reserve requirement constraints. Early users of these tools are facing difficulties securitizing portfolios of facilities in an industry with private and bespoke terms, but as the pressure for solutions offering capital relief increases, the industry may begin to coalesce around a set of standardized terms that allows these capital market solutions to flourish.
Finally, a somewhat recent development in the industry has been the introduction of various non-bank lenders, primarily insurance companies. This has come with its own set of challenges, including the need to structure some deals with term and revolver components or include USD and alternative currency tranche lenders. But it has also come with opportunities to syndicate deals to a much broader pool of institutions.
NAV financings
The growth in NAV financings reminds market participants of the early stages of subscription line facilities. Many of the same criticisms once levied against subscription line facilities (which are now an industry-wide accepted and beneficial leverage and cash management tool) are being raised with respect to NAV financings. Despite all the criticisms, there has been growth on both the supply and demand side for NAV financings, with lenders and borrowers highlighting the legitimate uses and trying to educate LPs, rating agencies, regulators and others on the benefits of this form of leverage.
More than 70 percent of sponsors and lenders at NAVember (an annual NAV-focused event hosted by Haynes Boone) expected growth in their NAV financings portfolio in 2024. Lenders that offer this product include traditional subscription line lenders expanding into NAV financings, but also specialized non-bank lenders, offering flexible and tailored terms and structures.
Interest rate environment
Rising interest rates and higher pricing has been one of the most significant changes in the fund finance market in recent years. Our data shows that pricing has largely stabilized over the last two quarters, after adjusting for the anticipated regulations surrounding the capital reserve requirements that banks must hold for these products and some of the supply side issues caused by regional bank failures in 2023. While rates and pricing have increased at a much faster rate than prior business cycles, it’s important to note that current rates are not unprecedented, and markets have weathered high rates in the past and continue to do so.
Funds are still actively utilizing the product, with industry surveys from H1 2024 indicating that 81 percent of PE funds are maintaining the use of their subscription line facilities notwithstanding the higher interest rate environment and, as of September 2023, more than 95 percent of private capital funds have access to subscription credit facilities. A survey by Haynes Boone of 120 sponsors, lenders and other fund finance market participants found that 74 percent of institutions are expecting some level of growth in their fund finance exposure in 2024, with 63 percent expecting an overall increase in the fund finance market in 2024.
And even if pricing does not return to the lower levels seen in the past decade, subscription line financings still provide certainty and flexibility of funding, quick access to liquidity and reduce the administrative burden. With higher rates, funds are more judicious on the sizes of their facilities and increasing/decreasing the size to better match their predicted needs, and also on the tenor of outstanding borrowings.
Geographic expansion
The fund finance industry is well established in North America and Europe, with the Fund Finance Association hosting its 13th and eighth annual symposium in these respective geographies. Additionally, the Asia-Pacific region has been an area of recent growth, both domestically in APAC, but also with regional lenders entering the European and North American markets. This year, there was enough interest and participation in the Japanese market for FFA to launch a separate fund finance conference focused on Japanese sponsors, lenders and investors, and a discussion on some of the nuances and market practices in Japan – in addition to FFA hosting its sixth annual Asia-Pacific symposium in Singapore.
With the continued expansion of private capital and renewed fundraising efforts on specific types of investors and new geographies, fund finance lenders are adapting to the regional needs of private capital firms and the shifting supply and demand of financing in different regions, while law firms are expanding and gaining expertise across various jurisdictions as a response to the increased diversification of investor jurisdictions that funds are exploring.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is poised to disrupt almost all industries and markets, and the private capital, banking and legal industries are no exception.
In the coming years, funds will develop AI tools to analyze potential deals and suggest optimal leverage levels/techniques and employ AI strategies to add value to existing portfolio companies. Lenders will utilize AI to assist with diligence and underwriting, monitor portfolio exposure and run risk assessments. Lawyers and law firms will use AI to assist with due diligence, drafting and negotiating documents, reviewing large volumes of data, and more readily identify market trends. Although AI cannot replace the judgment, experience, common sense and analytical capabilities of our industry’s experts, it will continue to be a tool to enhance those capabilities and become more accurate, efficient and productive.
Albert Tan is a partner and co-head of fund finance, and Aleksandra Kopec and Brent Shultz are partners in fund finance, at Haynes Boone
DULUTH — The Duluth Homegrown Music Festival is seeking both new operational leadership and a solution to financial filing issues that caused the organization to lose its federal tax-exempt status, which it has not held since 2022.
The organization is currently operating as a taxable nonprofit, confirmed Don Ness, the former Duluth mayor who serves as president of Homegrown’s
board of directors.
Ness and the board are working to discern whether there might be any outstanding tax liabilities in the wake of an apparent filing lapse.
“It’s a serious matter that requires diligence to do things right, and to correct past oversight, and to make sure that we are in full compliance with all tax and regulatory requirements,” Ness said. “The board is 100% committed to that course of action.”
As the Duluth Monitor first reported, Homegrown had its federal tax-exempt status revoked in 2022 after failing to make required financial reports for three years. The Monitor also reported that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office has notified the organization it may be in violation of state law requiring the proper registration of soliciting charities.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group file photo
“All but one of us have been on for less than a year,” Ness said of the current board members. “We’ve been committed to saying, ‘hey, we need to improve the points of accountability.’”
The organization will also require new operational leadership. Co-directors Cory Jezierski and Dereck Murphy-Williams resigned earlier this month, after leading Homegrown through four successful festivals.
“My contract ended at the end of May, and I knew a few days later that I did not want to continue in that position,” Jezierski said. “Simply put, it was the best thing for my mental health. It’s a job that requires many, many hours and a lot of work, and it can be very stressful as well.”
Amy Arntson / Duluth Media Group file photo
Murphy-Williams did not respond to an interview request for this article, nor did preceding Homegrown director Melissa LaTour. According to LaTour’s
LinkedIn profile,
she was Homegrown director from 2016 to 2022.
Jason Beckman, a recent president who is no longer serving on the board, responded to a News Tribune email but did not provide an interview availability before this article went to press.
Ness does not believe the reporting lapses were due to any ill intent. He praised Jezierski and Murphy-Williams for their success managing festival operations. “They cared deeply about the festival,” he said. “It’s amazing to see that our community continues to support this really unique and special festival.”
“Those guys run a hell of a festival,” said Scott Lunt, festival founder and a current board member. “I think they needed help with bookkeeping.”
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group file photo
By Jezierski’s account, issues with the festival’s tax status became apparent shortly after he became co-director. “We went to file taxes, they were rejected,” Jezierski said. “At that time we, of course, didn’t know why right away, but once we started pulling on that thread, we unraveled a whole lot of the problems that were going on.”
Jezierski said “it took a long time to try to get any sort of help” from the board, but said that by the time he and Murphy-Williams left the organization, “everything had been turned over to be reconciled” with a financial professional.
Ness, like Lunt, was deeply involved with Homegrown in its first decade but had not had an official role with the festival since then. After launching the festival in 1999 and running it on his own for several years, Lunt was “burnt out,” Ness remembered.
Derek Montgomery / Duluth Media Group file photo
After a transition period during which the festival was run in partnership with the Ripsaw newspaper, Homegrown established a nonprofit organization in 2006 with Ness as festival director. Ness subsequently stepped down when he was elected mayor in 2007.
By 2025, Ness was in his current position as executive director of the Ordean Foundation.
“I was approached by a couple of longtime music scenesters,” Ness recalled. “They said, ‘There are questions about (Homegrown’s) nonprofit status. There are questions about some governance issues. We’re concerned.’”
Ness agreed to join the board, and became president. The 2026 festival ran smoothly from an operational standpoint, but Ness found the financial reporting to be lacking.
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group file photo
“The last board meeting that we had prior to the (co-directors’) resignations was intended to be an overview of the festival that was a month before,” Ness said. “I certainly felt very uncomfortable with how little financial information we were receiving.”
Lunt also joined the board in 2025, marking his first time serving in that capacity. He said the new board has been spending significant time addressing the accounting and reporting issues.
“Every year at Homegrown time I’m like, ‘I should get more involved,’ and then I don’t,” Lunt said. “Then this board thing came up, and it was kind of sold to me as, like, four meetings a year. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s perfect.’ And now we’re meeting weekly.”
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group file photo
Although it’s unclear how the organization’s finances will look when the accounting and reporting issues have been fully addressed, along with any outstanding tax liabilities, both Ness and Lunt said they are confident the annual festival will continue without interruption.
“The organization will continue,” Ness said. “The festival will continue. Homegrown is in no danger in terms of its viability.” The financial documentation Ness initially received indicated budgeted revenues of about $140,000, against about $130,000 in expenses.
“Financially, I think we’re in a great spot. We have the money to hire the (financial) professionals, and we have (done so),” Lunt said. “We were hoping that we could get all this sorted out before it had to become more public.”
“We poured countless hours into this festival, and this is how it ends, with everyone talking about this,” Jezierski said. “It’s rough.”
“There’s a DIY ethos that is really at the core of Homegrown,” reflected Ness. “We’re throwing a music festival that isn’t waiting for some famous band from the East Coast to bless us with their presence. We are doing this on our own.”
Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group file photo
That DIY spirit also means “you’re kind of passing wisdom down from person to person, and sometimes that’s imperfect.” Ness continued. “The ways that we do things evolve over time, because it’s not a buttoned-down corporate sort of thing. That can create its own set of challenges.”
“It’s self-supporting,” said Lunt about the festival. “It’s widely volunteer-run. You do need to pay a couple people, obviously, to keep track of some things, but it’s going to be strong into the future. It’s gone through its bumps before.”
While most AI in financial services remains advisory, LUMIQ has built the layer that owns the decision — autonomous, auditable AI agents making regulated calls in production at leading banks, insurers, and capital markets firms. Today, LUMIQ serves clients across India, the United States, and Southeast Asia — leading institutions across insurance, banking, and capital markets.
NEW YORK and SINGAPORE, June 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — LUMIQ, an AI-native financial services company, today announced a strategic funding round to scale auto-decisioning for financial institutions across the United States and Southeast Asia. The round was led by Bajaj Finserv, one of India’s largest and most diversified financial services groups, with participation from existing investor Info Edge Ventures.
Right now, thousands of customers are waiting for a policy to be issued, a loan to be disbursed, a claim to be adjudicated, because somewhere an FSI employee is drowning in decisions, held back by the risk of getting it wrong. Today, when e-commerce delivers the same day, banks and insurers still decide in weeks. We built LiteCone to take that burden: AI decides the routine cases, completely and accountably, so humans spend their judgment on the one case that actually needs it. This round lets us bring that to every financial institution in the markets that matter most.
Shoaib Mohammad, Co-founder and CEO, LUMIQ
From AI that assists to AI that decides
For decades, financial institutions have bought technology that made their people faster — faster data, faster scoring, faster copilots. The decision still landed on a human. LUMIQ is changing that. Through its LiteCone platform, the company deploys AI agents that read the file, apply the institution’s own guidelines, and reach the decision end to end — escalating only the cases that genuinely require human judgment. The output is not a recommendation. It is a decision, with full reasoning attached, cross-referenced to policy, and defensible under audit.
The results in production speak clearly. At a leading life insurer, LUMIQ’s LEO agent decides 75–80% of underwriting cases with zero human touch, reduced policy issuance cost by roughly 25%, and compressed turnaround from days to under eight minutes — running 24×7 with complete auditability. Across its client base spanning insurance, banking, and capital markets in India, the US, and Southeast Asia, LUMIQ now processes millions of decisions annually.
LiteCone turns a real financial-services role into a working AI agent in weeks. Every agent we deploy is consistent, explainable, compliant, and auditable by design — not as an afterthought. This capital lets us go deeper on the platform and broader across roles. And through our cloud and AI lab partnerships, institutions will increasingly find LiteCone already embedded in the platforms they run today.
Vaibhav Dobriyal, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, LUMIQ
Consumer confidence has plunged among traditionally optimistic younger adults amid fears for their personal finances and the wider economy, figures show.
GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index remained unchanged at an overall score of minus 23 in June.
However, the analyst said this was was “misleading as, beneath the surface, there are new signs that confidence is weakening”.
Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, said: “The biggest fall this month is among those aged 16 to 29, traditionally one of the most optimistic groups.
“Here confidence has dropped 11 points over the past month to minus two, the lowest level seen for two years, driven by large falls in views on both their own personal finances and the wider economy.
“More broadly, there are now no demographic groups with a positive confidence score, including higher-income households earning £50,000 or more, who have slipped back into negative territory as of June.
“Confidence remains subdued and vulnerable to further economic or political uncertainty.”
Overall, confidence in personal finances over the coming year remained flat at minus two, four points lower than this time last year.
The measures of both personal finances and the economy over the previous 12 months were both slightly down, by two points and three points respectively, “reflecting the sense that things have been extremely tough over the last year for so many”, GfK said.
The only measure to increase was expectations for the wider economy over the next 12 months, up two points to minus 36 but still eight points below this time last year.
The major purchase index, an indicator of confidence in buying big ticket items, remained at minus 20, four points lower than June last year.
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